June Card Rankings | Beach Bash
Get ready for sun and fun as Marvel Snap kicks off a beach party for the June season. The Beach Bash includes both cute fan-favorites and terrifying creatures from the deep. Which cards should you save your resources for? Which characters are going to be the most fun?
The Cards
Lauren and I got together to compare our knee-jerk reactions to all the cards. Check out the video and then come back here to see how our feelings have evolved after conversation and reflection! Sometimes we stand pat, sometimes our opinions swing wildly!
Lauren's Rankings:
- Jeff the Baby Dolphin
- Venus
- Sub-Mariner
- Jubilee Silver Surfer
- Namorita
- Monstro
- Triton
- Quicksand
Further thoughts:
Jeff the Baby Dolphin
I'm giving Jeff the #1 spot because he's so generically good. Basically everything synergizes with him. He easily hits 2/6 Moveable, which would be a great card on its own. Of course, you can use stronger synergies to have him hand out more buffs (e.g., Kitty, merge, other Moveable cards) and/or amplify the power of the buffs he does hand out (e.g., Maverick, Venus).
Venus
The next four cards (including Venus) will have higher highs than Jeff, but they have more specific deckbuilding demands. It seems cool to amplify each buff in a chain of cards that buff each other, but I worry she'll prove too slow/expensive for that. Venus cares more about how many buffs you're handing out than how big they are. I'm eyeing stuff like the new Jeff, Silver Surfer, Marvel Boy, Bishop, and Nova as cards that might help her dish out enough buffs to justify her low Power. It might just be one type of deck that can use her to this level, but she'll punch well above her weight there.
Sub-Mariner
The most interesting card of the season by virtue of doing something new. He's the opposite of Venus – he wants big buffs. He'll take those and pass them along. This feels like a card people will sleep on until they see how much power he can create. Having a couple big 1-Costs you can drop anywhere on the last turn sounds strong. On top of that, your opponent won't know exactly how big they are.
Jubilee Silver Surfer
This card is gonna have very polarized games. Buffing and playing her early (Surge?) has massive payoff. And you can squeeze more out of her with extra draws (not just Adam Warlock and Crystal, but also King Eitri, Jane Foster, or Nico Minoru). 4-Cost engine cards struggle. Being hit-or-miss can be okay thanks to Snaps and retreats. I'm not sure if her strong games will be able win enough cubes to justify how bad she is drawn on Turn 5 or 6.
Namorita
I was originally comparing her to Phastos, but now I'm thinking Superior Spider-Man is the more interesting comparison. Her condition is easier to meet, but her discounts are less flexible than his bonus Energy. I think Namorita's extra point of Power is enough to give her the edge.
Monstro
I don't think he's great, but he's playable. I expect it'll be precious few decks where he fits as one of the best 12 cards. Mostly, the extra information he gives you won't swing games. You gotta play him in decks with a few big cards. He's bad if he costs 5–8 Energy, okay at 3–4, good at 2, and great at 0–1.
Triton
I don't think it'll be very hard to get more use out of his +3 than your opponent will, but I just don't think his base Power or the buffs he hands out are big enough. If he fits among the other buffers-who-want-to-be-buffed, he'll be the worst of the bunch.
Quicksand
It's good for this card to exist, but she's a Gorgon/Leech, not a Mobius/Stardust.
Scott's Rankings:
- Jeff The Baby Dolphin
- Venus
- Jubilee Silver Surfer
- Sub-Mariner
- Triton
- Namorita
- Monstro
- Quicksand
Futher Thoughts:
Jeff The Baby Dolphin
There are so many decks throughout Snap's history that have relied on having at least one good rate mover to mitigate variance and give some unpredictability. Jeff does that and has synergy with Empowerment. This Jeff has a chance to be as ubiquitous as his predecessor was when he first joined the game.
Venus
We could be heading into a meta where there are two main strategies: buffing wide and buffing tall. Venus can hand out a ridiculous amount of buffs, but there is a chance she's suppressed, temporarily, but the go-tall Maverick decks.
Jubilee Silver Surfer
Jubilee is yet another way to store up your buffs to pass on later. Before Stick released I heard some grumbling about how he wouldn't be good because he was just “worse Maverick,” but here's the thing: you don't have to choose. You can play a bunch of these buff soakers and Jubilee should slot right in alongside them. At some point we'll hit critical mass and some will be left out as the 13th or 14th card in those decks, but Jubilee will have a role upon release.
Sub-Mariner
Lauren convinced me in the video. I still put him behind the three cards above, because he doesn't have a proven home just yet and there is a higher level of variance with him. But he's also a buff sponge where you can store a buff to put out later. He has more Cube equity than some of the others, and he keeps your Cost down. If Jubilee doesn't make the cut in the current Empower builds, it might be because Sub Mariner steals her spot! In a season that is mostly just Empowerment synergy cards, Sub Mariner is easily the most interesting one. Expect to see some ridiculous 20+ Power 1-drops coming down to steal games on the final turn.
Triton
Giving your opponent +3 is obviously not great, but you are in control! The decks that want a fat buff like this are using it for something Grand. They don't care about your measly +3 because they're turning that +3 into +12 or +18. This is one of the greediest cards in a while and there will be plenty of opportunity to misplay with him. All that, plus a Cerebro counter if you ever truly need one.
Namorita
Sounds great on paper, but this is 2026. She's a 3/5 with good reason. You need to be getting efficient value out of her and the cards you draw after her. There will definitely be control-oriented “good cards” decks and ramp decks that can take advantage of her. But until Mother Askani's reign is over, she'll bubble under the surface.
Monstro
The ability to know what's on the top of your deck is overrated. There are only a handful of the most greedy combo decks that want that and, even then, several of those don't want a 2/8 or 3/8 all that badly. Certainly worth a try in Hela to see if he can scooch the cube rate higher, and will be fun to try out as an early board presence in some Ramp or Galactus First Steps decks, but Monstro is mostly a curiosity, a novelty, the kind of card you can play because you want to, not because he's optimal.
Quicksand
A meta-dependant tech card for a meta that we're not currently in. Even in a meta where Energy gain is the primary strategy, it's probably better to be the deck asking something of your opponent rather than offering this type of answer. However, tech cards like this are what allow decks like Supergiant or Lockdown to survive in hostile metas, so they are good for long-term diversity and player satisfaction. Still, it's just a meta-dependant tech card.
Brand New Spiders!
Come back next month for a very Spider-y season! Come find us on social media and in our Discord for even more thoughts on the upcoming cards. And be sure to check back for card previews of each of the cards with synergies and starting-point decklists!
